Sensing substrate and battery module including the same

ABSTRACT

According to the present invention, a dummy terminal is provided on a sensing substrate and sensing substrate may be thus commonly used on both side surfaces of a battery module, and as a result, since only one type of sensing substrate provided with the dummy terminal needs to be manufactured instead of manufacturing two types of sensing substrates having different arrangements of the substrate terminals, mass productivity of the sensing substrate and the battery module including the same may be significantly improved.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 to Korean PatentApplication No. 10-2018-0048420, filed on Apr. 26, 2018, in the KoreanIntellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The following disclosure relates to a sensing substrate capable ofimproving mass productivity and a battery module including the same.

BACKGROUND

In general, crier storage system refers n a system that stores powerwhich is excessively generated by a power plant and then supplies thepower to meet demand patterns. More specifically, the energy storagesystem is configured to store the power generated by the power plantlarge energy storage means such as a battery rack without directlysupplying the power to a home or a factory, and then supply the power tothe home or the factory when the power supply is needed.

The energy storage system is a key technology that is essential forbuilding a Smart Grid that has been emerging recently. Smart Grid refersto an intelligent power grid that optimizes energy efficiency combininginformation technology with an existing unidirectional power grid havingstages of power generation, transmission, and sales, and exchangingreal-time information between power suppliers and consumers in bothdirections.

The energy storage system includes a battery rack operating systemincluding a plurality of battery racks and a battery management system(BMS), a power conversion system (PCS), and an energy management system.Here, the plurality of battery racks are for charging and storing energyand discharging and outputting the energy when necessary, and thebattery management system is for managing the plurality of batteryracks.

The battery rack operating system includes a plurality of battery racksconnected in parallel to a grid through a relay, wherein each of theplurality of battery racks includes a plurality of battery modules, andeach of the battery modules includes a plurality of battery cells and aBMS that manages the plurality of battery cells.

The BMS receives information on a voltage or a temperature of each ofthe battery cells, and the voltage or the temperature of the batterycell is sensed by an element included in the battery module. However,conventionally, the BMS and a sensing substrate are implemented on asingle printed circuit board (PCB), and in this case, most of the heatgenerated in the BMS is transferred to the sensing substrate, whichmakes it difficult to accurately sense the temperature.

Meanwhile, the battery module includes a plurality of battery cellsincluding a positive electrode terminal and a negative electrodeterminal, respectively, and a plurality of bus bars that electricallyconnect the positive electrode terminals and the negative electrodeterminals of the plurality of battery cells to each other. However,since an arrangement of the bus bars is different on both side surfacesof the battery module, the sensing substrate for sensing the voltage orthe temperature of the battery cell also needs to be provided indifferent forms on both side surfaces of the battery module. However, inthis case, there a problem that mass productivity is inferior becausetwo sensing substrates should be manufactured so that the sensingsubstrates may be used on both side surfaces of the battery module,respectively.

RELATED ART DOCUMENT Patent Document

(Patent Document 1) Korean Patent Publication No. 0659829 (2016 Dec. 13)

SUMMARY

An embodiment of the present invention is directed to providing asensing substrate that may be commonly used on both side surfaces of abattery module to improve mass productivity, and a battery moduleincluding the same.

An embodiment of the present invention is directed to providing asensing substrate capable of relatively accurately sensing a temperatureof a battery cell, and a battery module including the same.

In one general aspect, a sensing substrate for sensing a voltage or atemperature of a plurality of battery cells, in a battery moduleincluding the plurality of battery cells including a positive electrodeterminal and a negative electrode terminal, respectively, and aplurality of bus bars that connect the positive electrode terminals andthe negative electrode terminals of the plurality of battery cells toeach other, includes: a substrate body; and a plurality of substrateterminals protruding from the substrate body and coupled to the positiveelectrode terminals or the negative electrode terminals of the pluralityof battery cells through the bus bars, wherein one or more substrateterminals of the plurality of substrate terminals are coupled to two ormore positive electrode terminals of the plurality of battery cells orare coupled to two or more negative electrode terminals of the pluralityof battery cells through one of the plurality of bus bars so that thesensing substrate is commonly used on both side surfaces of the batterymodule.

A temperature sensor may be mounted on the substrate body or at leastone of the plurality of substrate terminals, and each of the pluralityof substrate terminals may include a substrate terminal body protrudingfrom tree substrate body; a cell voltage sensing part provided to anupper portion of the substrate terminal body so as to be coupled to thepositive electrode terminal or the negative electrode terminal of eachbattery cell, and sensing a voltage of each battery cell; and anextending part formed of a material having thermal conductivity,extending to a lower portion of the substrate terminal body from thecell voltage sensing part, and formed on one surface of the substrateterminal body, and the temperature sensor may be mounted on a surfaceopposite to the surface on which the extending part is formed.

A fuse may be mounted on at least one of the plurality of substrateterminals, and each of the plurality of substrate terminals may includea substrate terminal body protruding from the substrate body; a cellvoltage sensing part provided to an upper portion of the substrateterminal body so as to be coupled to the positive electrode terminal orthe negative electrode terminal of each battery cell, and sensing avoltage of each battery cell; and an extending part formed of a materialhaving thermal conductivity, extending to a lower portion of thesubstrate terminal body from the cell voltage sensing part, and formedon one surface of the substrate terminal body, and the fuse may bemounted on a surface opposite to the surface on which the extending partis formed.

The battery module may further include a battery management system (BMS)that manages the plurality of battery cells, and the sensing substratemay further include a wire harness that connects the substrate body withthe BMS.

In another general aspect, a battery module may include a plurality ofbattery cells including a positive electrode terminal and a negativeelectrode terminal, respectively; a plurality of bus bars that connectthe positive electrode terminals and the negative electrode terminals ofthe plurality of battery cells to each other; and a sensing substratefor sensing a voltage or a temperature of the plurality of batterycells, wherein the sensing substrate includes: a substrate body; and aplurality of substrate terminals protruding from the substrate body andcoupled the positive electrode terminals or the negative electrodeterminals of the plurality of battery cells through the bus bars,wherein one or more substrate terminals of the plurality of substrateterminals are coupled to two or more positive electrode terminals of theplurality of battery cells or are coupled to two or more negativeelectrode terminals of the plurality of battery cells through one of theplurality of bus bars so that the sensing substrate is commonly used onboth sides surfaces of the battery module.

A temperature sensor may be mounted on the substrate body or at leastone of the plurality of substrate terminals, and each of the pluralityof substrate terminals may include a substrate terminal body protrudingfrom the substrate body; a cell voltage sensing part provided to anupper portion of the substrate terminal body so as to be coupled to thepositive electrode terminal or the negative electrode terminal of eachbattery cell, and sensing a voltage of each battery cell; and anextending part formed of a material having thermal conductivity,extending to a lower portion of the substrate terminal body from thecell voltage sensing part, and formed on one surface of the substrateterminal body, and the temperature sensor may be mounted on a surfaceopposite to the surface on which the extending part is formed.

A fuse may be mounted on at least one of the plurality of substrateterminals, and each of the plurality of substrate terminals may includea substrate terminal body protruding from the substrate body; a cellvoltage sensing part provided to an upper portion of the substrateterminal body so as to be coupled to the positive electrode terminal orthe negative electrode terminal of each battery cell, and sensing avoltage of each battery cell; and an extending part formed of a materialhaving thermal conductivity, extending to a lower portion of thesubstrate terminal body from the cell voltage sensing part, and formedon one surface of the substrate terminal body, and the fuse may bemounted on a surface opposite to the surface on which the extending partis formed.

The battery module may further include a BMS that manages the pluralityof battery cells, and the sensing substrate may further include a wireharness that connects the substrate body with the BMS.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a battery module according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view illustrating a battery cell included in the batterymodule shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3A is a view illustrating an inner appearance of the battery modulewhen the battery module shown in FIG. 1 is viewed from a front rightside.

FIG. 3B is a view illustrating a sensing substrate shown in FIG. 3A.

FIG. 4A is a view illustrating an inner appearance of the battery modulewhen the battery module shown in FIG. 1 is viewed from a rear rightside.

FIG. 4B is a view illustrating sensing substrate shown in FIG. 4A.

FIG. 5 is a view illustrating an appearance in which a temperaturesensor and a fuse are mounted on one surface of the sensing substrate.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of one of a plurality of substrate terminalson the other surface the sensing substrate.

FIG. 7 is a view illustrating an appearance in which a wire harness isprovided to one side or a substrate body.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, a sensing substrate and a battery module including the sameaccording to the present invention will be described in detail withreference to the accompanying drawings. The accompanying drawings areprovided by way of example in order to sufficiently transfer the spiritof the present invention to those skilled in the art, and the presentinvention is not limited to the accompanying drawing provided below, butmay be implemented in other forms.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a battery module according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention and FIG. 2 is a viewillustrating a battery cell included in the battery module shown inFIG. 1. FIG. 3A is a view illustrating an inner appearance of thebattery module when the battery module shown in FIG. 1 is viewed from afront right side and FIG. 3B is a view illustrating a sensing substrateshown in FIG. 3A. In addition, FIG. 4A is a view illustrating an innerappearance of the battery module when the battery module shown in FIG. 1is viewed from a rear right side and FIG. 4B is a view illustrating asensing substrate shown in FIG. 4A.

A sensing substrate 1000 according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention is provided on both sides of a battery module 1 asshown in FIGS. 3A and 4A. In addition, the battery module 1 according toan exemplary embodiment of the present invention may include a pluralityof battery cells 10, a plurality of bus bars 20, a BMS 30, a housing 40,and the sensing substrate 1000.

The plurality of battery cells 10 are disposed in a housing 40 along alength direction of the housing 40, and although FIG. 1 shows that atotal of 23 battery cells 10 are disposed, the number of battery cells10 may vary.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, each of the plurality of battery cells 10includes a positive electrode terminal 11 and a negative electrodeterminal 12, and although it is shown that the positive electrodeterminal 11 is positioned at an upper side of the battery cell 10 andthe negative electrode terminal 12 is positioned at a lower side of thebattery cell 10, the positive electrode terminal 11 and the negativeelectrode terminal 12 may be positioned opposite to each other.

The plurality of bus bars 20 electrically connect the positive electrodeterminals 11 and the negative electrode terminals 12 of the plurality ofbattery cells 10 to each other.

First, referring to FIG. 3A, only a first bus bar 20 is connected to thepositive electrode terminal 11 of a first battery cell 10, and a secondbus bar 20 is commonly connected to the negative electrode terminal 12of the first battery cell 10 and the negative electrode terminal 12 of asecond battery cell 10. In addition, a third bus bar 20 is commonlyconnected to the positive electrode terminal 11 of the second batterycell 10 and the positive electrode terminal 11 of a third battery cell10, and a fourth bus bar 20 is commonly connected to the negativeelectrode terminal 12 of the third battery cell 10 and the negativeelectrode terminal 12 of a fourth battery cell 10. In addition, a twentysecond bus bar 20 is commonly connected to the negative electrodeterminal 12 of a twenty first battery cell 10 and the negative electrodeterminal 12 of a twenty second battery cell 10, a twenty third bus bar20 is commonly connected to the positive electrode terminal 11 of thetwenty second battery cell 10 and the positive electrode terminal 11 ofa twenty third battery cell 10, and only a twenty fourth bus bar 20 isconnected to the negative electrode terminal 12 of the twenty thirdbattery cell 10.

Next, referring to FIG. 4A, only a twenty fifth bus bar 20 is connectedto the negative electrode terminal 12 of the twenty third battery cell10, and a twenty sixth bus bar 20 is commonly connected to the positiveelectrode terminal 11 of the twenty third battery cell 10 and thepositive electrode terminal 11 of the twenty second battery cell 10. Inaddition, a twenty seventh bus bar 20 is commonly connected to thenegative electrode terminal 12 of the twenty second battery cell 10 andthe negative electrode terminal 12 of a twenty first battery cell 10,and a twenty eighth bus bar 20 is commonly connected to the positiveelectrode terminal 11 of the twenty first battery cell 10 and thepositive electrode terminal 11 of a twenty battery cell 10. In addition,a forty sixth bus bar 20 is commonly connected to the positive electrodeterminal 11 of the third battery cell 10 and the positive electrodeterminal 11 of the second battery cell 10, a forty seventh bus bar 20 iscommonly connected to the negative electrode terminal 12 or the secondbattery cell 10 and the negative electrode terminal 12 of the firstbattery cell 10, and only a forty eighth bus bar 20 is connected to thepositive electrode terminal 11 of the first battery cell 10.

As such, the plurality of bus bars 20 may connect the positive electrodeterminals 11 and the negative electrode terminals 12 of the plurality ofbattery cells 10 in series with each other, and here, in order to sensea voltage of the battery cell 10, terminals need to be disposed on thebus bar 20 coupled to the positive electrode terminal 11 and the bus bar20 coupled to the negative electrode terminal 12, respectively.

For example, in the battery module 1 illustrated in FIG. 3A, in order tosense a voltage of the first battery cell 10, the terminals need to bedisposed on the first bus bar 20 and the second bus bar 20,respectively, and in order to sense a voltage of the second battery cell10, the terminals need to be disposed on the second bus bar 20 and thethird bus bar 20, respectively. In addition, in order to sense a voltageof the twenty second battery cell 10, the terminals need to be disposedon the twenty second bus bar 20 and the twenty third bus bar 20,respectively, and in order to sense a voltage of the twenty thirdbattery cell 10, the terminals need to be disposed on the twenty thirdbus bar 20 and the twenty fourth bar 20, respectively.

However, referring to one side surface of the battery module 1illustrated in FIG. 3A, only the first bus bar 20 is connected to thepositive electrode terminal 11 of the first battery cell 10, the secondbus bar 20 is commonly connected to the negative electrode terminal 12of the first battery cell 10 and the negative electrode terminal 12 ofthe second battery cell 10, the twenty third bus bar 20 is commonlyconnected to the positive electrode terminal 11 of the twenty secondbattery cell 10 and the positive electrode terminal 11 of the twentythird battery cell 10, and only the twenty fourth bus bar 20 isconnected to the negative electrode terminal 12 of the twenty thirdbattery cell 10.

Meanwhile, referring to the other side surface of the battery module 1illustrated in FIG. 4A, only the twenty fifth bus bar 20 is connected tothe negative electrode terminal 12 of the twenty third battery cell 10,the twenty sixth bus bar 20 is commonly connected to the positiveelectrode terminal 11 of the twenty third battery cell 10 and thepositive electrode terminal 11 of the twenty second battery cell 10, theforty seventh bus bar 20 is commonly connected to the negative electrodeterminal 12 of the second battery cell 10 and the negative electrodeterminal 12 of the first battery cell 10, and only the forty eighth busbar 20 is connected to the positive electrode terminal 11 of the firstbattery cell 10.

That as can be seen in FIGS. 3A and 4A, the arrangements of theplurality of bus bars 20 connecting the positive electrode terminals 11and the negative electrode terminals 12 of the plurality of batterycells 10 are different on one side surface and the other side surface ofthe battery module 1, and as a result, it is necessary that a sensingsubstrate used on one side surface of the battery module 1 and a sensingsubstrate used on the other side surface of the battery module 1 areprovided to have different forms. However, in this case, massproductivity of the sensing substrate is decreased, and as a result, inorder to improve the mass productivity, it is necessary to introduce asensing substrate which may be commonly used on both side surfaces ofthe battery module 1.

The sensing substrate 1000 according to an exemplary embodiment of theresent invention includes a substrate body 100 and a plurality ofsubstrate terminals 200 as shown in FIGS. 3A to 4B.

The substrate body 100 has a generally rectangular shape and is disposedbetween the positive electrode terminal 11 and the negative electrodeterminal 12 of the battery cell 10. Here, the substrate body 100 may bea printed circuit board.

The plurality of substrate terminals 200 vertically protrude in anupward direction and a downward direction of the substrate body 100, andare coupled to the positive electrode terminals 11 or the negativeelectrode terminals of the plurality of battery cells 10 through theplurality of bus bars 20.

However, as described above, since the arrangements of the plurality ofbus bars 20 that connect the positive electrode terminals 11 and thenegative electrode terminals 12 of the plurality of battery cells 10 toeach other on one side surface and the other side surface of the batterymodule 1 are different, it is necessary to provide the substrateterminals 200 in consideration of this point in order to improve themass productivity of the sensing substrate 1000.

Specifically, in the sensing substrate 1000 according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention, one or more substrate terminals ofthe plurality of substrate terminals are coupled to two or more positiveelectrode terminals 11 of the plurality of battery cells 10 or arecoupled to two or more negative electrode terminals 12 of the pluralityof battery cells 10 through one bus bar of the plurality of bus bars 20.

Referring to FIGS. 3A and 3B, each of the first to twelfth and fifteenthto twenty fifth substrate terminals of the plurality of substrateterminals 200 is separately coupled to one bus bar 20, a thirteenth anda fourteenth substrate terminals are simultaneously coupled to one busbar 20. That is, the thirteenth and fourteenth substrate terminals arecoupled to the negative electrode terminal 12 of the first battery cell10 and the negative electrode terminal 12 of the second battery cell 10through the second bus bar.

Referring FIGS. 3A and 3B, a twenty fourth substrate terminal of theplurality of substrate terminals 200 is coupled to the negativeelectrode terminal 12 of the twenty first battery cell 10 and thenegative electrode terminal 12 of the twenty second battery cell 10, anda twenty fifth substrate terminal is coupled to the negative electrodeterminal 12 of the twenty third battery cell 10.

On the contrary, referring to FIGS. 4A and 4B, each of the first totwenty third substrate terminals of the plurality of substrate terminals200 is separately coupled to one bus bar 20, but the twenty fourth andtwenty fifth substrate terminals are simultaneously coupled to one busbar 20. That is, the twenty fourth and twenty fifth substrate terminalsare coupled to the positive electrode terminal 11 of the twenty secondbattery cell 10 and the positive electrode terminal 11 of the twentythird battery cell 10 through the twenty sixth bus bar.

Referring to FIGS. 4A and 4B, a thirteenth substrate terminal of theplurality of substrate terminals 200 is coupled to the positiveelectrode terminal 11 of the first battery cell 10 through the fortyeighth bus bar, and a fourteenth substrate terminal is coupled to thepositive electrode terminal 11 of the second battery cell 10 and thepositive electrode terminal 11 of the third battery cell 10 through theforty sixth bus bar.

That is, as illustrated in FIG. 3A, when the sensing substrate 1000 isprovided on one side surface of the battery module 1, any one of thethirteenth and fourteenth substrate terminals becomes a dummy terminalbecause all of the thirteenth and fourteenth substrate terminals areconnected to the second bus bar.

In addition, as illustrated in FIG. 4A, when the sensing substrate 1000provided on the other side surface of the battery module 1, any one ofthe twenty fourth and twenty fifth substrate terminals becomes a dummyterminal because all of the twenty fourth and twenty fifth substrateterminals are connected to the twenty sixth bus bar.

As such, the dummy terminal is provided on the sensing substrate and thesensing substrate may be thus commonly used on both side surfaces of thebattery module, and as a result, since only one type of sensingsubstrate provided with the dummy terminal needs to be manufacturedinstead or manufacturing two types of sensing substrates havingdifferent arrangements of the substrate terminals, the mass productivityof the sensing substrate and the battery module including the same maybe significantly improved.

Meanwhile, conventionally, since the EMS and the sensing substrate areimplemented on a single printed circuit board (PCB), most of the heatgenerated in the BMS is transferred to the sensing substrate, whichmakes it difficult to accurately sense the temperature. However, in thecase in which the BMS 30 and the sensing substrate 1000 are installed inthe battery module 1 to be spatially separated from each other and thetemperature sensor 300 is mounted on the substrate body 100 of thesensing substrate 1000 or at least one substrate terminal 200 in theform of a chip, the accuracy of the temperature sensing may beincreased.

FIG. 5 is a view illustrating an appearance in which a temperaturesensor and a fuse are mounted on one surface of the sensing substrateand FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of one of a plurality of substrateterminals on the other surface of the sensing substrate.

As illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6, each of the plurality of substrateterminals 200 may include substrate terminal body 210, a cell voltagesensing part 220, and an extending part 230.

The substrate terminal body 210 may have the form which verticallyprotrudes in an upward direction and a downward direction of thesubstrate body 100, and may be the printed circuit board similarly tothe substrate body 100.

The cell voltage sensing part 220 provided onto the substrate terminalbody 210 so as to be coupled to the positive electrode terminal 11 orthe negative electrode terminal 12 of each battery cell 10, and isformed of a material having electric conductivity to sense a voltage ofeach battery cell 10.

The positive electrode terminal 11 and the negative electrode terminal12 of each battery cell 10 may be in the form of a bolt protrudingforward as shown in FIG. 2 and a circular hole 225 for receiving thepositive electrode terminal 11 or the negative electrode terminal 12 ofeach battery cell 10 may be provided in the cell voltage sensing part220.

The positive electrode terminal 11 or the negative electrode terminal 12of each battery cell 10 may be received in a hole (not shown) providedin the bus bar 20 and the hole 225 provided in the cell voltage sensingpart 220 and may be then fastened by a nut to thereby form an assemblyincluding the battery cells 10, the bus bars 20, and the sensingsubstrate 1000 as illustrated in FIG. 3A or 4A. Here, the assembly ofthe battery cells 10, the bus bars 20, and the sensing substrate 1000may be manufactured not only by fastening by bolts and nuts but also bylaser welding or ultrasonic welding to each other.

In addition, the cell voltage sensing part 220 is preferably formed of amaterial having excellent electrical conductivity such as copper forvoltage sensing of the battery cell 10 and may be formed on one surfaceand the other surface of the substrate terminal body 210.

Meanwhile, the extending part 230 is preferably formed of a materialhaving excellent thermal conductivity, and extends toward a lowerportion of the substrate terminal body 210 in the cell voltage sensingpart 220 and is formed on only one surface of the substrate terminalbody 210.

Since the temperature sensor 300 needs to be electrically insulated fromthe cell voltage sensing part 220, the temperature sensor 300 may not bedirectly mounted on the cell voltage sensing part 220. However, in thecase in which the temperature sensor 300 is mounted on a surfaceopposite to the surface on which the extending part 230 is formed withthe substrate terminal body 210 interposed therebetween, electricalinsulation may be ensured by the substrate terminal body 210 and thetemperature of the battery cell 10 may be relatively accurately sensedby the temperature sensor 300 due to the extending part 230 formed of athermally conductive material.

The fuse 400 may be mounted on one of the plurality of substrateterminals 200. Here, the fuse 400 is also preferably mounted on thesurface opposite to the surface on which the extending part 230 isformed with the substrate terminal body 210 interposed therebetweensimilarly to the temperature sensor 300, and this is because electricalinsulation may be ensured by the substrate terminal body 210 and a powerdisconnection function of the fuse 400 may be further improved due tothe extending part 230 formed of a thermally conductive material.

FIG. 7 is a view illustrating an appearance in which a wire harness isprovided to one side of a substrate body.

In the BMS 30, the balancing of the cell voltage is performed or a largeamount of heat is generated due to an operation of a micro controllerunit (MCU), and in this case, when the generated heat is transferred tothe substrate body 100 and the substrate terminal 200, it is difficultaccurately sense the temperature of the battery cell 10 and the fuse 400also becomes difficult to properly exhibit a function thereof.

Accordingly, it is preferable to minimize the phenomenon in which theheat generated in the BMS 30 is transferred to the substrate body 100and the substrate terminal 200 by providing a wire harness 500 thatconnects the substrate body 100 with the BMS 30 to one side of thesubstrate body 100.

The wire harness 500 may be implemented as a cable or a flexible printedcircuit board (PCB). In addition, the wire harness 500 may be providedas many as the number of the substrate terminals 200, and the voltage orthe temperature of the battery cell 10 sensed by the substrate terminal200 may be transferred to the BMS 30 through the wire harness 500.

As such, by providing the wire harness 500 that connects the substratebody 100 with the BMS 30, the phenomenon in which the heat generated inthe BMS 30 is transferred to the substrate body 100 and the substrateterminal 200 may be minimized, and as a result, the accuracy of thetemperature sensing through the temperature sensor may be furtherincreased.

According to the present invention, the dummy terminal is provided onthe sensing substrate and the sensing substrate may be thus commonlyused on both side surfaces of the battery module, and as a result, sinceonly one type of sensing substrate provided with the dummy terminalneeds to be manufactured instead of manufacturing two types of sensingsubstrates having different arrangements of the substrate terminals, themass productivity of the sensing substrate and the battery moduleincluding the same may be significantly improved.

In addition, according to the present invention, accuracy of thetemperature sensing of the battery cell may be increased by mounting thetemperature sensor on the substrate, and the wire harness that connectsthe substrate body with the BMS may be provided to minimize a phenomenonin which the heat generated in the BMS is transferred to the substratebody and the substrate terminals, thereby further increasing theaccuracy of the temperature sensing through the temperature sensor.

In addition, the battery module according to the present invention maybe used for an energy storage system, and in this case, due to theimprovement in the mass productivity of the battery module and thesensing substrate included therein, and the improvement in the accuracyof the temperature sensing, a cost saving and an increase in energystorage efficiency may be expected in driving the energy storage system.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to theexemplary embodiments and the accompanying drawings, it is not limitedto the above-mentioned exemplary embodiments but may be variouslymodified and changed from the above description by those skilled in theart to which the present invention pertains. Therefore, the spirit ofthe present invention should be understood only by the claims, and allof the equivalences and equivalent modifications to the claims areintended to fall within the scope and spirit of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF MAIN ELEMENTS

-   1: battery module-   10: battery cell-   11: positive electrode terminal-   12: negative electrode terminal-   20: bus bar-   30: EMS-   40: housing-   100: substrate body-   200: substrate terminal-   210: substrate terminal body-   220: cell voltage sensing part-   225: hole-   230: extending part-   300: temperature sensor-   400: fuse-   500: wire harness-   1000: sensing substrate

What is claimed is:
 1. A sensing substrate for sensing a voltage or atemperature of a plurality of battery cells, in a battery moduleincluding the plurality of battery cells including a positive electrodeterminal and a negative electrode terminal, respectively, and aplurality of bus bars that connect the positive electrode terminals andthe negative electrode terminals of the plurality of battery cells toeach other, the sensing substrate comprising: a substrate body; and aplurality of substrate terminals protruding from the substrate body andcoupled to the positive electrode terminals or the negative electrodeterminals of the plurality of battery cells through the bus bars,wherein one or more substrate terminals of the plurality of substrateterminals are coupled to two or more positive electrode terminals of theplurality of battery cells or are coupled to two or more negativeelectrode terminals of the plurality of battery cells through one of theplurality of bus bars so that the sensing substrate is commonly used onboth side surfaces of the battery module.
 2. The sensing substrate ofclaim 1, wherein a temperature sensor is mounted on the substrate body.3. The sensing substrate of claim 1, wherein a temperature sensor ismounted on at least one of the plurality of substrate terminals.
 4. Thesensing substrate of claim 3, wherein each of the plurality of substrateterminals includes: a substrate terminal body protruding from thesubstrate body; a cell voltage sensing part provided to an upper portionof the substrate terminal body so as to be coupled to the positiveelectrode terminal or the negative electrode terminal of each batterycell, and sensing a voltage of each battery cell; and an extending partformed of a material having thermal conductivity, extending to a lowerportion of the substrate terminal body from the cell voltage sensingpart, and formed on one surface of the substrate terminal body, and thetemperature sensor is mounted on a surface opposite to the surface onwhich the extending part is formed.
 5. The sensing substrate of claim 1,wherein a fuse is mounted at least one of the plurality of substrateterminals.
 6. The sensing substrate of claim 5, wherein each of theplurality of substrate terminals includes: a substrate terminal bodyprotruding from the substrate body; a cell voltage sensing part providedto an upper portion of the substrate terminal body so as to be coupledto the positive electrode terminal or the negative electrode terminal ofeach battery cell, and sensing a voltage of each battery cell; and anextending part formed of a material having thermal conductivity,extending to a lower portion of the substrate terminal body from thecell voltage sensing part, and formed on one surface of the substrateterminal body, and the fuse is mounted on a surface opposite to thesurface on which the extending part is formed.
 7. The sensing substrateof claim 1, wherein the battery module further includes a batterymanagement system (BMS) that manages the plurality of battery cells, andwherein the sensing substrate further includes a wire harness thatconnects the substrate body with the BMS.
 8. A battery modulecomprising: a plurality of battery cells including a positive electrodeterminal and a negative electrode terminal, respectively; a plurality ofbus bars that connect the positive electrode terminals and the negativeelectrode terminals of the plurality of battery cells to each other; anda sensing substrate for sensing a voltage or a temperature of theplurality of battery cells, wherein the sensing substrate includes: asubstrate body; and a plurality of substrate terminals protruding fromthe substrate body and coupled to the positive electrode terminals orthe negative electrode terminals of the plurality of battery cellsthrough the bus bars, wherein one or more substrate terminals of theplurality of substrate terminals are coupled to two or more positiveelectrode terminals of the plurality of battery cells or are coupled totwo or more negative electrode terminals of the plurality of batterycells through one of the plurality of bus bars so that the sensingsubstrate is commonly used on both side surfaces of the battery module.9. The battery module of claim 8, wherein a temperature sensor ismounted on the substrate body.
 10. The battery module of claim 8,wherein a temperature sensor is mounted on at least one of the pluralityof substrate terminals.
 11. The battery module of claim 10, wherein eachof the plurality of substrate terminals includes: a substrate terminalbody protruding from the substrate body; a cell voltage sensing partprovided to an upper portion of the substrate terminal body so as to becoupled to the positive electrode terminal or the negative electrodeterminal of each battery cell, and sensing a voltage of each batterycell; and an extending part formed of a material having thermalconductivity, extending to a lower portion of the substrate terminalbody from the cell voltage sensing part, and formed on one surface ofthe substrate terminal body, and the temperature sensor is mounted on asurface opposite to the surface on which the extending part is formed.12. The battery module of claim 8, wherein a fuse is mounted on at leastone of the plurality of substrate terminals.
 13. The battery module ofclaim 12, wherein each of the plurality of substrate terminals includes:a substrate terminal body protruding from the substrate body; a cellvoltage sensing part provided to an upper portion of the substrateterminal body so as to be coupled to the positive electrode terminal orthe negative electrode terminal of each battery cell, and sensing avoltage of each battery cell; and an extending part formed of a materialhaving thermal conductivity, extending to a lower portion of thesubstrate terminal body from the cell voltage sensing part, and formedon one surface of the substrate terminal body, and the fuse is mountedon a surface opposite to the surface on which the extending part isformed.
 14. The battery module of claim 8, further comprising: a batterymanagement system (BMS) that manages the plurality of battery cells,wherein the sensing substrate further includes a wire harness thatconnects the substrate body with the BMS.